Red Sky
by woodrosegirl
Summary: A series of drabbles based around the saying "Red Sky at Night, Shepherd's Delight; Red Sky at Morning, Shepherd's Warning" Derek/Addison centric along with a healthy dose of Amelia and Mark.
1. Chapter 1

**Writing drabbles has always been a favourite of mine. Whilst I love telling a story in long parts, I really enjoy writing drabbles that centre around a theme. This is something I've been playing with for a while, drabbles based on the saying "Red Sky at Night, Shepherds Delight. Red Sky at Morning, Shepherds Warning' I've got about 15 roughly planned at the moment. They will mainly be Derek/Addison centric with Amelia also getting a set of five drabbles. This is the prologue. As always, I hope you enjoy this (hopefully new) idea. Please feel free to drop me a review, let me know what you think!**

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Ever since Derek Shepherd had been a little boy, he'd always been oddly fascinated by the colour of the sky. The vibrant blue of a sunny day meant warm dry weather, being able to escape the house to play outside with Mark, away from a house full of his 4 sisters and well meaning but clucky mother. The inky black of the sky at night meant following the curves of the moon, its lunar cycles, stargazing, making up names for the constellations, and trying to find the North Star before it was time to go to bed.

And while he loved the clear blue and pure black, it was red that fascinated him the most; it was pale red in the morning, the clouds light pink and fluffy with deep red at sunset, almost like the sky was on fire.

"Derek, get away from that window and get ready for bed" he heard his Mama yell. Ignoring her, he stayed by the window and gazed at the crimson clouds that were touched with a hue of dark pink. She tutted as she came down the stairs and saw her son still by the window. "Derek Christopher Shepherd what are you still doing there?" He tore his gaze from the window to look at his mother.

'The sky is red Mama. Isn't it beautiful?"

Carolyn Shepherd sighed.

"You're just like your Dad and your Nana Shepherd."

He looked at his mother curiously.

"How?"

"When your Dad was a little boy, just like you he also loved staring at the sky, and your Nana used to tell him this old fable about Shepherd's."

Derek tilted his head slightly.

"What was it?"

Carolyn sat down and pulled Derek onto her lap.

"Well they was an old saying 'Red Sky at night, Shepherd's delight, Red sky at morning, Shepherds warning. It was supposed to be a fable but because our family name is Shepherd, it had personal meaning to them. Your Nana's mom told it to her, and she told it to your Dad, and now I'm telling it to you, because you seem to be just as fond as looking at the sky as they did."

Derek listened to his mother carefully, committing the phrase to memory in his young mind. From that day on he continued his watchful gaze on the sky; and whilst he still loved all the hues of daytime blue through to night time black, red still remained his favourite, and when he saw a girl with hair as red as the sky that he loved, it was love at first sight; and the phrase wound into their lives becoming the backdrop to their story.


	2. Chapter 2

**Number 2 in this drabble series. I love young Addison/Derek! I know it's just a drabble but please review!**

 **Loosely based on "the best love song of all time"**

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Derek tried to concentrate on what his teacher was saying about the cadaver in front of him, but a brilliant burst of red hair colour; as vibrant and red as the sky he loved kept straying into his eye line and distracting him. As he averted his gaze, he found that the red hair belonged to the most striking and beautiful girl that he had ever seen. As the teacher started to explain about the cadavers medical history and the unfortunate accident that had led to his demise, the only thing he could concentrate on was the girl it front of him. As she bent down to study something on the cadaver, errant strands of the vibrant red hair fell over her eyes and he watched as her hand reached up to deftly flick the strands away. She had long fingers he noted, perfect for surgery. As she straightened back up he was so lost in his thoughts of her that he didn't hear the lecturer saying his name. It took Mark, who was standing directly behind him nudging him in the ribs for Derek to look up at his teacher. "Oof!" he turned to shoot a glare at his friend who nodded in the direction of the teacher.

"Derek Shepherd." He said, with a hint of impatience. "Perhaps you would like to explain to the rest of the class how Mr Blakeman's prior medial history combined with his accident contributed to his death." Derek looked blankly at the cadaver, wishing he would magically spring to life and tell him the answer. Sadly for Derek, he didn't and all he could do was stammer out "I um….it was the…um.." his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. He glanced at the redhead who had caused him to loose focus in the first place and found that she was mouthing the answer to him.

"His mitral valve…it was too thick, and that combined with the trauma caused his death." His teacher nodded and Derek breathed a silent sigh of relief that he had managed not to make himself look like a complete idiot in front of the entire class. He smiled a small smile at the girl, in way of thanks, the irony not lost on him that it was she who was both his distraction and savior. She smiled broadly back, and he felt his face grow red at the small attention. After that he tried to focus all his attention on the cadaver and everything his teacher was saying but he couldn't help but observe how the girl always seemed to have the correct answer to any question that was being asked. Not only was she stunning, but she was also brilliantly clever. He almost felt in awe of her.

The end of class couldn't come fast enough, and as everyone raced out he quickly gathered his things and hurried out, keeping one eye on the redhead and trying not to lose her among the fronds of the crowds that had amassed at the front of the building. Mark followed behind him and he could hear him shouting 'Derek, what on earth are you doing?' but he ignored him, his sole mission being too speak to the girl. Weaving through the mass of bodies he managed to catch up with her, and as he ran in front of her he turned so that he was standing directly in front of her.

"Hi" he said.

Addison, momentarily shocked and startled at having her pathway blocked, looked worried, but as her eye's recognized the intruder as the guy who she'd just seen in her anatomy class her expression softened.

"Hi" she said. "You're the…" he cut her off.

"The guy who totally blanked the answer in class, you'd probably recognize me better if I gave you that lost stare that I did earlier."

She laughed and Derek felt his stomach flip.

"I just wanted to thank you for giving me the answer."

She shrugged.

"It was no problem."

"I would have known the answer, normally…but I was too busy…looking at you." He cringed inwardly when he realized what he had said. She blushed slightly, her cheeks turning a pale crimson that reminded him of the clouds at sunset that he loved.

"How about I take you for a drink tomorrow…to say thanks."

She smiled shyly.

"I'd like that"

"Seven okay with you? We can just meet in the student bar?"

She nodded.

"Okay."

He held out his hand for her to shake.

"I'm Derek Shepherd."

She took it and he noticed how her long fingers curled around his.

"Addison Montgomery."

He watched her walk off, her long red hair swishing with her steps. 'Addison Montgomery' he said softly to himself. 'Wow.'

He turned and nearly collided with Mark.

"Dude! I've been calling you for ages! What the hell were you doing?"

Mark's eye's fell on the retreating figure of Addison.

"Woah….you actually talked to her?"

"Not just that" Derek said confidently. "We have a date tomorrow."

"Nice work! Man…she's got a fantastic ass…no wonder you lost concentration in class."

"I wasn't staring at her ass you pervert! I was staring at her hair."

Mark burst out laughing.

"Her hair?! Do you have a weird hair fetish or something?!"

"Her hair colour." Derek said defensively.

"Mmmm, that red is very sexy. But you did see her ass right?"

"Well I'm not blind!"

Mark waggled his eyebrows.

"Nice right?"

Derek swatted his friend on the arm.

"Yes. Now shut up. Pervert."

They made idle conversation the rest of the way back to his dorms but Derek couldn't help but notice the colour of the summer sky at sunset.

" _Red sky at night, Shepherds delight"_


End file.
